Course description

What is a nursing associate?

Nursing associate is a relatively new role, which bridges the gap between health and care assistants and registered nurses. Nursing associates work in many health and social care settings, from hospitals to care homes, hospices, GP practices and community services.

Responsibilities vary depending on the care setting you work in, but your duties are likely to include:

• performing and recording clinical observations such as blood pressure, temperature, respirations and pulse
• undertaking clinical tasks including venepuncture and ECGs
• supporting people when they are faced with unwelcome news and life-changing diagnoses
• discussing and sharing information with other professionals on a patients’ condition, behaviour, activity and assessments
• ensuring the privacy, dignity and safety of individuals is maintained at all times
• recognising issues to do with safeguarding vulnerable children and adults

Key benefits of this course

• Learn about all four fields of nursing so you can find out where your passions and talents lie
• Get the qualification you need to become a Registered Nursing Associate (a title protected by law) and/or use this course as a step towards becoming a Registered Nurse
• Study in Derby or Chesterfield
• Spend 50% of your time on placement and 50% of your time at university
• This is a well-established course. In fact, we were one of the first institutions to run a nursing associate programme

Is this course for me?

This is a two-year course that requires you to study full-time. If you would prefer to train while you are working, you could look for a Nursing Associate Apprenticeship with an employer, and then follow our equivalent apprenticeship programme.

People usually take this course for one of the following reasons:

• They want to become a Registered Nursing Associate
• They want to become a Registered Nurse but don’t yet have the qualifications to get onto one of the full nursing degrees
• They want to become a Registered Nurse but don’t yet know which area to specialise in, so they want to experience all four areas of nursing first

These are all good reasons to take this course! After completing this foundation degree, you could join one of our full nursing degrees in year two and complete that within 18 months.

How you will learn

Placements

At least 50% of your time will be spent on placement in both years. This is so you can build up the clinical skills required to meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council Standards of Proficiency for Nursing Associates. Placements happen throughout the course, so that you alternate between learning the theory at university and then gaining experience on placement.

We aim to provide a variety of placements. For instance, you could be placed in hospitals, GP practices, care/nursing homes, or with community-based teams, such as school nurses or mental health crisis teams. You will have a Practice Assessor and Supervisor on each placement who will provide guidance, support, and valuable feedback.

Please be aware that you are expected to travel up to 90 minutes each way to get to a placement, and to work the shift hours set by that organisation.

Other study

During your time at university, you will learn through lectures, scenario-based learning sessions, tutorials, seminars, debates, and practice-based workshops. You will be asked to consider different cases and say what you would do, share your own experiences, and listen and learn from other trainees.

How you are assessed

Assessment approaches are varied and include poster presentations, exam, essays, assignments, case based discussions and practical skills assessments.

Who you will meet

Our teaching team includes experts in all four areas of nursing. All are qualified health professionals, with years of experience in nursing and leadership roles within health and social care. They have strong links with the local NHS trusts as well as with smaller health and social care providers, and this will really benefit you when it comes to finding placements.

"I found the staff were very supportive and wanted everyone to thrive. I really feel like the staff took a great person-centred approach with students.” Emma Macukiewicz, Nursing Associate student